New sale cuts BlackBerry PlayBook price by as much as $400

Research In Motion’s debut tablet has been something of a disappointment for the Waterloo, Ontario-based vendor. While the slate showed promise, it failed to offer potential users a compelling reason to choose it over the iPad or an Android tablet, and RIM would end up taking a $485 million charge in the third fiscal quarter due to unsold PlayBook inventory. Sale pricing ahead of the holidays last year seemingly helped RIM and its distribution partners clear out some stock, however, as the company is once again offering discounts on its QNX-based tablet. While pricing starts at $299 rather than $199 this time around, all three PlayBook models cost $299, which means the 64GB version can be had for a deep $400 discount. RIM’s first major update for its tablet OS set to bring native email and more next month.